Automated cooking machines, such as bread makers, have become increasingly popular. Another type of automated cooking machine is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,649,810; 4,779,522; 4,820,054; 4,942,807, all issued to the present inventor, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference. This type of automated cooking machine permits ingredients to be added at different times, stirred and turned or flipped. One way to implement a stirring action is to use a simple planar stirrer to scrape the bottom of the pot in a circular fashion. The shape of the stirrer will cause the food ingredients to spread out or tumble over the top of the stirrer. However, the overall action is not a true turn and flip motion so that its effectiveness is compromised in many situations. The turn and flip stirrer disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,942,807, is an automated stirrer which will perform a true turn and flip function. However, in certain situations even the stirrer shown in the above-mentioned patent is not as effective as could be desired. This can occur when cooking a relatively small amount of an ingredient or when the cooking surface is extremely slippery, as could be caused by non-stick surface coatings or the presence of a sufficient amount of water, oil or other liquid. In these situations, the stirrer can have a tendency to push the ingredients forward rather than turning and flipping the ingredients. The slippage will render the two-axis stirrer less effective than it is designed to be. Therefore, an effective two-axis stirrer also depends on sufficient surface friction developed by the total weight of the ingredients to be pushed, turned and flipped.